


Dinner with the Wheelers

by JoMo3



Series: Time Together [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 00:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14176641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMo3/pseuds/JoMo3
Summary: “So, Mike?”“Yeah?” he asked, taking a sip of orange juice.“Who’s Eleven?”He coughed, spitting orange juice onto his shirt. Nancy rolled her eyes.“Who’s...what?”orMike invites Eleven over to introduce to his family. Takes place directly after my story "Just Perfect."





	Dinner with the Wheelers

**Author's Note:**

> So you kind of have to have read "Just Perfect" to know what's going on here. If you don't feel like checking that one out, here's the bullet points:
> 
> Eleven is in a year of hiding.  
> Mike has visited her a few times; he's asked her to be his girlfriend, and they've told each other they love each other.  
> In the previous story, Eleven spent Valentine's Day at Mike's house where the two had a makeshift date. His parents were out. Hopper thinks she was over at Will's.  
> Eleven gave Mike a Valentine's card (that plays an important part in the beginning of the story)  
> Everyone caught up? Good :)  
> This story takes place directly after that one ended.

Mike barely made it back home before his parents arrived from their Valentine’s date. After his own date with Eleven, they’d hopped on his bike and he’d taken her back to the Byers for Hopper to pick her up. After saying goodbye, he’d speed-rode his bike home, tossing it into the garage and plopping in front of the television nearly ten minutes before he heard the front door open and his parents come in. His mother held Holly’s hand, while his dad carried a doggy bag in from their restaurant date.

“Hi, honey,” his mom said as they walked in the door.

“Hey,” Mike responded.

“Did you eat?”

“Uh, yeah,” Mike said, looking up to make sure he’d put he and El’s plates away. Thankfully, he had.

“Is Nancy back?” his mother asked, as Holly ambled her way over and climbed onto the couch, next to Mike.

“No, not yet,” Mike answered. 

“It’s almost nine,” his dad commented, glancing at his watch.

“What time did you tell her to come back?” his mom asked.

“Nine, nine thirty,” Ted responded, sitting down in the La-Z-Boy. 

Mike knew that as his sign that the TV now belonged to his father. He handed the remote to his dad, and stood up. “I’m going up,” he announced.

“Okay. Good night, sweetie,” his mom said as she watched him go. Turning to her husband, she asked, “Are you going to wait up for Nancy?”

“Yep,” he answered, flipping channels.

She sighed, then looked at Holly. “Ready for a bath, honey?” Holly nodded, and began to climb off the couch. On her way, she bumped the coffee table, causing a piece of paper to fall down. Karen bent and picked it up, and looked at it quizzically. It was a folded piece of paper; it looked like a card. She saw two stick people on the front. And inside, she read “Love, Eleven.”

Glancing at her husband, she asked, “Whose is this?”

He barely looked at it. “I don’t know. Mike’s, maybe?”

She looked at it again. “Who’s Eleven?”

***

The next morning was Friday, and after getting dressed for school, Mike clambered down the stairs, ready for breakfast. The rest of the family already sat at the table, plates full of Karen’s scrambled eggs and waffles. After Mike sat, he scanned the table and found what he was looking for-maple syrup. Grinning, he poured some onto his eggs.

“That’s disgusting,” Nancy commented.

“You’re disgusting,” Mike shot back.

“Don’t start, it’s too early,” their mother said. Then, smiling, she asked, “So, Mike?”   
“Yeah?” he asked, taking a sip of orange juice.

“Who’s Eleven?”

He coughed, spitting orange juice onto his shirt. Nancy rolled her eyes.

“Who’s...what?”

“I saw a card,” his mom said, handing him a napkin, “And it said ‘Love, Eleven’.”

“Oh.  _ That _ ...um…”

Nancy raised her eyebrows, curious as to how Mike was going to play this off.

Mike’s mind raced. Every time he had been up to the cabin to see El, he had lied to his parents, telling them he was going to Will’s or Dustin’s. He wasn’t sure he was ready to tell them about his telekinetic girlfriend.

“Mike?” his mom asked.

“There’s, uh...this girl in my history class who, um...likes me, I guess.”

“Oh. Why did it say ‘Love, Eleven?’ Is that her name?”

“No, she, uh...her name is Ellen. But as a joke, uh, people sometimes call her Eleven for some reason.” Mike could feel his ears turning red, this lie was terrible.

“Nice one,” Nancy sarcastically whispered.

“Oh,” their mom said. Mike couldn’t tell if she bought it or not. “Is she nice?”

“Um..she’s okay, I guess.”

“Hm.” Their mother picked up her empty plate, as well as Holly’s, who sat next to her. “Well, I put it back on the coffee table, if you want it.” Getting up, she took the empty plates to the kitchen.

“Ellen?” Nancy asked once their mother had left.

“Shut up,” Mike mumbled.

***

Mike felt bad the rest of the day. He wasn’t particularly fond of lying to his mother. Yes, there’d been that whole week when El was living in his basement that he’d lied. And yes, technically he and Nancy were lying about how Hawkins had come close to destruction numerous times, but somehow this felt...different. El was one of the most important people to him, and lying about her made him feel bad.

And he did want El to meet his parents. He hadn’t exactly worked out  _ when _ that would happen, though. Part of him had just figured that when her year of hiding was up, he’d introduce her as a girl he’d met at school. El hadn’t asked, or said anything about it; probably not knowing how big of a step it would be. But still…

After coasting through the day, that Friday night the boys and Max made their way to The Palace. Dustin and Max took turns trying to get the high score in  _ Dig Dug _ while the trio of Mike, Lucas, and Will watched and cheered them on.

“Son of a bitch,” Dustin moaned as he died in the game, pounding his fist on the machine. “I was  _ this close _ .”

“No you weren’t,” Max said, sliding into his place and depositing a quarter. “Not even close,” she muttered as she began pounding on the buttons.

“I need a soda,” Dustin said, looking around for the concession stand.

“Me, too,” Will said. “I’ll go with you.” The two disappeared into the crowd of people.

Still watching Max play, Lucas asked Mike, “Did you call El tonight?”

“Before I left,” Mike said. “Hey, do you...do you think it’s a good idea to tell my parents about her?”

“Uh,  _ no _ . Isn’t she supposed to be in hiding, anyway?”

“ _ Dammit _ ,” Max said, slamming her hand on the machine. Turning around to Lucas, she held out her hand. “Quick, gimme another quarter before Dustin comes back.”

Lucas sighed, dug in his pocket, and handed her a coin. She quickly inserted it, and resumed playing.

“Well, yeah, but...when she was over at my house yesterday, she gave me a card, and my mom saw it.”

“Whoa. What’d you say?”

Mike shook his head. “I made up a lie. But I...I want El to meet them. Well my  _ mom _ , at least.”

“Can’t you just wait until the year is up?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Mike admitted, but didn’t really like that answer. Just then he saw Dustin and Will coming back, sodas in hand.

“Hey!” Dustin said, going to Max’s side. “It’s my turn!”

“You weren’t here,” she said, eyes never leaving the screen.

“But that’s…” he turned to his friends for help.

“Come on, just let her play,” Will said.

“She’s right,” Lucas said, shrugging his shoulders.

“You don’t count,” Dustin said to him, then turned to Mike.

“She’s probably going to die soon, anyway,” Mike said.

“ _ Ugh _ ,” Dustin moaned. As if on cue, sad music played, signaling the demise of Max’s character.

 

When he got home that night, Mike ignored Lucas’ advice and radioed Eleven.

“El?”

Static, then, “Mike? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just...I had a question.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He paused, then asked, “Do you think Hopper would let you meet my mom and dad?”

It was silent for a beat until she softly answered with “I don’t know.”

“I didn’t tell you before, but...they found the card you made me and wanted to know who it came from.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I just... I lied. But I don’t like lying about you, El. You’re...you’re my girlfriend, and I don’t like that I have to lie to them about you.”

On her end, El smiled, and said, “I will ask Hopper tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay. Um, then, goodnight, El.”

“Night, Mike.”

***

The next morning El and Hopper were having breakfast before he had to go in to work. El had stayed up late last night thinking over Mike’s “request.” She had never really given any thought about meeting Mike’s mom and dad. Yes, she wondered about them, and if they were nice or not; but until Mike’s call last night she had never put much thought into coming face to face with them. Now, it was all she could think about.

“What’s on your mind?” Hopper asked, cutting into his last pancake.

“What?” she asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

“You’re quieter than usual. Usually you’re telling me about your soap operas, or asking how soon Wheeler can come over.”

“Can I meet Mike’s family?”

He ate his pancake and wiped his mouth before answering. “Where’s this coming from?”

She had told him that she’d spent Valentine’s Day at the Byers’ home, so she had to be careful with how she answered. “I gave Mike a card. His mom saw it and wondered who I am.”

“Hm.” Jim hid a smile, thinking,  _ Of course he left it out _ . “Do you want to meet them?”

Eleven had to think. Did she? “Yes,” she answered.

“Well,” Hopper said, covering up a burp, “It’s…”

“Not safe,” she finished for him as she looked glumly at her plate.

“Well, yeah,” he said, taking his plate to the sink. “But even if it was safe, there’s a lot of moving pieces.”

“Moving pieces?”

“They’re going to wonder why they’ve never met you before. They’re going to ask why he’s been lying all this time, things like that.”

“Oh.”

“And besides, this whole us keeping you hidden for a year hasn’t been going too well. You’ve been out  _ there _ ,” he said, indicating outside, “And had people  _ here _ so much that I’m wondering why I even bother anymore.”

El looked at him, confused. “Yes or no?”

Hopper sighed, picking up his hat. “ _ Maybe _ . I’ll think about it.” Kissing the top of her head, he said goodbye and went off to work.

***

On Saturday morning after breakfast, the gang-Lucas, Will, Dustin, and Max-came over to the Wheeler home to watch some movies.

“Gremlins?” Max asked, as Will brought the cassette from his backpack.

“What’s wrong with Gremlins?” Will asked.

“I don’t know. Don’t you guys ever watch things that aren’t, you know...scary?”

“Awww, Mad Max is afraid of the gwemlins,” Dustin teased.

“Shut up, Henderson,” she said, sitting next to Lucas on the couch. “No I’m not. I’m just looking for something a little different.”

“We could watch Star Wars,” Lucas offered.

“Uh, no,” Max answered.

Will shrugged, and put the cassette into the VCR.

They were a half an hour into it when Mike’s walkie crackled. Pausing it, Mike jumped up and grabbed it. Walking to a corner, he pressed a button. “El? Is that you?”

“Hi, Mike,” she said.

“Hey. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I talked to Hopper. He said he’ll think about it.”

“Oh. Okay.”

A pause, then she added, “I miss you.”

He smiled. True, it had only been a few days, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit to feeling the same way. “I miss you, too, El.”

“What are you doing?”

“We’re…”

“Is that Eleven?” Lucas called.

Mike sighed, and pulled the walkie from his face. “ _ Yes _ .”

“Ooh, I want to talk to her,” Dustin said, jumping up and walking over.

So the group (except Max) spent the next ten minutes taking turns talking to El over the walkie. For El, it was almost as good as being there in the room with them; though when she looked around her, her surroundings begged to differ.

When each boy had had their turn, Mike got the walkie back. “Sorry about that,” he said, taking the walkie to a corner. 

“It’s okay. I’m glad I got to talk to them.” Another pause, then she said, “I’ll let you go, Mike. I’ll call you tonight if Hopper has an answer.”

“Okay. Um...even if he doesn’t, we can still talk.”

Even though he couldn’t tell for sure, he thought she was smiling when she answered back, saying, “Okay.”

He smiled. “Alright. Love you, El.”

“Love you, too.”

He clicked off and went to join his friends. Lucas and Dustin were the only ones sitting in front of the television.

“Where’s Max and Will?” Mike asked.

“Bathroom,” Dustin said, looking over the back of the VHS box.

“Oh.” After debating it, Mike said, “El asked Hopper if she can meet my mom and dad.”

The other two boys looked up, surprised. “ _ What _ ?” they almost said in unison.

“I asked her. I...want her to meet them,” Mike said, shrugging his shoulders.

“What’d Hopper say?” Lucas asked.

“Nothing, yet.”

“You’re really going to introduce El to your parents?” Dustin asked. “Isn’t that, like…”

“ _ Dangerous _ ?” Lucas finished.

“Well, yeah, but...I’m gonna have to introduce her to them eventually, right?” Mike said, shrugging.

Almost simultaneously, Will came down the stairs and Max emerged from the basement bathroom. Seeing the look of worry on the other boy’s faces, Max asked, “What’s going on?”

“Mike is gonna…” Lucas began.

“ _ Lucas! _ ” Mike hissed.

Ignoring him, Lucas said, “Mike’s gonna introduce Eleven to his parents.”

“What?” Will asked.

“Whoa,” Max said, eyes widening. “Is that the smartest thing to do?”

“No,” Mike said. “But I don’t care. It’s gonna happen. I lo…” he stopped short of saying the  _ l _ word in front of them.

“You what?” Dustin asked.

“Nothing. Let’s just watch the movie, you guys.”

***

That evening, Eleven sat in anticipation for Hopper to come home. Around six o’clock (six-zero-zero), she heard the familiar and secret knock at the door. Using her mind, she unlatched all three locks and smiled as Hopper came in, a pizza box in his hand.

“Hey, kid,” he said, kicking the door shut behind him. “I was in the mood for pizza, hope that’s alright with you.”

“So?” she asked excitedly.

“So, what?” he asked as he placed the pizza on the table.

Getting up from the couch, she walked over to the table and took a seat. “Can I meet Mike’s mom and dad?”

Sighing, Hopper took his hat off and undid his holster. “I don’t think it’s such a good idea, El.”

“Why?” she asked, her smile fading.

“Because they’re going to want to know about you, and they’re gonna have a million questions. Plus, the people from the lab were there a year ago, looking for you. I don’t think it’s the smartest thing to go hanging out in front of them.”

Eleven bowed her head in disappointment.

“Hey, I’m not saying it’ll  _ never _ happen,” Hopper said, opening the lid of the pizza box and taking out a slice. “I just…”

“The Snowball was safe,” she said, looking up.

Shaking his head, Hopper said, “It was safe- _ ish _ .”

“Ish?”

“I was there the whole time, remember? Outside in the parking lot.”

She looked confused. “You’re not going to come?”

Hopper chuckled. “To meet your boyfriend’s parents? No thank you.”

“What if they promise not to tell?” she asked.

“What?”

“Mike’s parents,” she continued. “If they promise not to tell.”

Shaking his head again, Hopper said, “That’s a stretch, kid. And why do you want to meet them so bad, anyway?”

After a pause, she answered, “They are important to Mike. And Mike is important to me.”

“Oh, God,” Hopper said, rolling his eyes.

El smiled, seeing she’d cracked his defenses.

Rubbing his face, Hopper thought about the Wheelers. He knew Karen from high school; she’d always been one of the popular kids and they ran in different crowds. Could she be trusted to keep a secret this big? He didn’t really know her husband that well, just that he seemed aloof. He figured that if this were going to work, some creative edits needed to be made.

Huffing, he said, “Tell you what. Let me talk to someone else about this...whole thing. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow.”

El nodded, taking a slice of pizza.

Noticing the somewhat disappointed look on her face, Hopper added, “Hey, you never know, I could say yes. You just have to wait. Halfway happy, alright?”

“Halfway happy,” she muttered, taking a bite from the pizza.

***

When Mike didn’t hear from El that night, he started to worry that it wasn’t going to happen.

All during school the next day he kept thinking about going to the AV room and trying to call her. As fate would have it, he didn’t have to go very far.

When he walked out of school with his friends, Will was the first one to spot Jim Hopper’s Jeep, parked near the bike racks.

“What’s the chief doing here?” Will asked.

“Oooh, maybe he’s here to arrest somebody. That’d be so awesome,” Dustin said, grinning.

“Come on, let’s go and see why he’s here,” Mike said.

So the group made their way over; as they neared their bikes, Hopper got out of his cruiser.

“Hey, guys,” he said nervously.

“Is El okay?” Mike asked.

“She’s fine, look,” Hopper said, looking around. “I need to talk to you for a minute, okay?”

“ _ Me _ ?” Mike asked, surprised.

“Yeah, you. Get your ass in the car, kid,” Hopper said.

Mike looked at his friends and shrugged. He climbed into the car as his friends stayed by the bike rack, wondering what the hell was going on.

“Am I under arrest or something?” Mike asked.

Hopper rolled his eyes. “No, I just need to talk to you for a minute.” Hopper glanced out the window. Thankfully the school had cleared out quickly, so there wasn’t too many people around to spy on them, or to wonder why nerdy Mike Wheeler was sitting in a police car.

“About what?”

“About El, and this whole thing about meeting your parents.” Casting a glance at Mike, he asked, “You sure you want to do this?”

Nodding, Mike said, “If it’s okay with you, yeah.”

Sighing, Hopper said, “Look, for some reason she really wants to meet them, too. And I know it’s gonna have to happen eventually, but I wasn’t ready for it this soon.”

“So you’re saying we can’t….”

“I’m  _ say _ ing,” Hopper interrupted, “That if this is gonna happen, we need to set up a few ground rules first. I want to make sure she’s safe.”

Smiling, Mike said, “So she can…”

“Kid, just shut up and listen.”

***

Ten minutes later Mike emerged from the car, smiling from ear to ear.

“What happened?” Lucas asked as the rest of the party walked closer.

“I’ll call her tonight!” Mike shouted to Hopper. In the car, Hopper nodded, then started his jeep and drove off. Turning to his friends, Mike said, “It’s gonna happen.”

“What’s gonna happen?” Will asked.

“El,” Mike said softly. “She’s gonna come over to my house.”

“Wh…” Dustin began.

“Come on, I’ve gotta get home,” Mike said.

 

When he got home, he jumped off his bike and ran into the house, immediately seeing his mother in the kitchen, already beginning dinner.

“Hey honey,” she said, grinning at him as she put her wine glass down. “Dinner’ll be ready in an hour, if you want to…”

“Um...I’ve got to talk to you about something,” he said.

“Okay,” she said, turning down the temperature on the stove.

“I wanted to, uh...I wanted to know if it’s okay if I invite someone over to dinner. Tomorrow, or Sunday.”

“Your friends?”

“No, um...a girl.”

“That girl Max?”

“No! Ew!” he said, making a face.

“Well then, honey,  _ who _ ?”

He took a deep breath as he prepared what he was going to say. Hopper had been specific: tell her about El, that she was a classmate of his, but don’t say anything about her powers or the lab. Don’t talk about Demogorgons, Demodogs, Mind Slayers (Mind  _ Flayer _ , Mike had corrected), tunnels, or any of the shit that had gone on at the lab. When Mike had protested, saying that he didn’t want to keep lying about El, Hopper had said it was the only way to keep her safe, to which Mike had agreed. Sighing, he told his mom “I kind of have a girlfriend.”

Karen smiled. “That’s great, honey. Is it that Ellen girl you were telling me about?”

“Yeah, but...well,  _ no _ , not really, it’s…” He sighed. “It’s a different girl at my school.”

“Michael,” she said, playfully hitting his shoulder, “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess I was just nervous.”

“Well? What’s her name?”

“El,” he said, unable to hide his blush.

His mom furrowed her brow. “And her name’s not Ellen?”

“No, it’s...it’s just El.”

“El,” she said quietly to herself. “So when do I get to meet this girl?”

“Uh, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Is it alright if I invited her over for dinner? Like, tomorrow, or maybe Sunday?”

Smiling, his mom nodded, saying, “Why don’t you invite her over tomorrow? I’ll talk to your dad about it.”

Mike ran up behind her and hugged her waist. “Thank you thank you  _ thank you _ ,” he said. Letting go, he ran off to go call El.

***

The next afternoon, a few hours before the dinner, Hopper found Eleven sitting on the floor of her room, arms crossed and an upset look on her face.

“Oh, boy,” he said, coming in and sitting in the chair. “What’s wrong now?”

Since Mike had radioed her last night, telling her that dinner was a go, Eleven had been a nervous, self-doubting wreck. She’d peppered Hopper with questions, ranging from how nice the Wheeler parents seemed to what she could and could not say. So he wasn’t too surprised to see her like this, frustrated and on the floor.

“Nothing’s good enough,” she muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“My...clothes,” she said, gesturing towards her dresser, where nearly every drawer was pulled out to some degree. “They aren’t good enough,” she said.

Hopper sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, kid.” Most of El’s clothes were some of his hand me downs, or things he’d found in the cabin. Joyce had kicked in a few things recently, but for the most part her clothes were predominantly guy-centric. Trying to make her feel better, he added, “You know Mike isn’t gonna give a damn what you’re wearing.”

She sighed. “I want to make a good…” she looked at him for the right word.

“Impression?” he asked, which got her nodding her head.

“How about this?” he asked, going over to the dresser and carefully pulling out a familiar blue dress. She looked at it skeptically.

“I wore that already,” she muttered. “To the SnowBall.”

“Yeah, but we only got a couple of hours, El. And not much choice. Besides, you look pretty in it.”

She blushed, ducking her head at the compliment.

“So do we have a winner?” he asked with a smile.

Rolling her eyes, she smiled and said “ _ Yes _ .” Getting up, she took the dress from him.

***

A few hours later, Mike’s leg twitched nervously as he awaited El’s arrival. Dinner was set; his mom had made spaghetti, one of her famous dishes. He’d talked to Nancy, and she was on board with the whole “pretend you’ve never met her before” thing. Last night when he’d radioed Eleven, he’d told her to pretend like she had never met Nancy before. So all his ducks were in a row.

But still, he was nervous. What if his parents asked El a question she couldn’t answer? What if he, Nancy, or El let something slip? What if they recognized her?

Suddenly, this didn’t seem like such a good idea.

But it didn’t matter, because she’d radioed him a bit ago, telling him she was on her way.

A little later, he heard the doorbell ring. Springing up from his seat in the family room, he called out, “I got it!” to his parents, as he ran to the door. When he opened it, he was, as usual, taken aback by how pretty El could be.

“El,” he said, smiling.

“Mike,” she said, returning the smile.

“You didn’t have to…” he said, looking at what she was wearing, “You didn’t have to dress up.”

“Oh,” she said, frowning.

He himself was just wearing a sweater and jeans; but not wanting to worry her, he said, “But it’s okay, El, it really is. You look beautiful. Come in.”

She nodded, walking inside, looking around. When he closed the door, he took her hand. “Are you ready?”

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him, and said “Yes.”

 

Mike led her into the family room, where the rest of his family waited.

“Uh, guys...this is El,” he said, unable to hide the slight blush making its way up his neck.

Nancy gave El a knowing smile, while Karen, giddy with meeting her son’s first girlfriend, walked over. “Hi, El, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” El said quietly. “Thank you for inviting me.”

Karen smiled. “Oh, I  _ love _ your dress, it’s so pretty,” she added. El smiled.

“This is my dad,” Mike said, nodding towards his father who was getting up from his Lay-Z-Boy.

“Hello, El,” he said, walking over and shaking her hand. Looking at her quizzically, he asked, “Have you been here before? You look familiar.”

“Um...no,” she said, looking over at Mike, nervously.

“Dad, you might be confusing her with that Max friend of his,” Nancy said, getting up from her chair and walking over. “Hi, I’m Nancy, Mike’s big sister.” She took El’s hand and shook it, giving her a wink.

El didn’t know what the wink meant, but shook her hand back. “Nice to meet you.”

“And this is Holly,” Mike said, nodding at his little sister who hid behind his mom.

El smiled, and waved to the small girl. Holly gave a shy smile back.

 

The dinner went well. Eleven remembered the crash course in manners that Hopper had given her earlier in the day; saying  _ please _ and  _ thank you _ ; looking Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler in the eye when they spoke to her, remembering to use a napkin.

Mike’s father didn’t say much, besides  _ swearing _ that he’d seen her somewhere. Mike’s mom, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop talking about how adorable Mike and El were, which made the two blush like crazy. Both Mike and El had been nervous about any questions his parents would have, but they were able to answer the ones she asked:

_ How long have you lived in Hawkins? _ A year.

_ What class do you two have together? _ Science with Mr. Clarke.

_ What do your parents do? _ My dad works for the police.

This was the one thing they’d been unsure about, whether or not to tell them that she was with Hopper. But Jim had figured what with him dropping her off and picking her up, the Wheelers might put two and two together, so they were allowed to indulge who her father was. Besides, when El started going to school in the fall, everyone in town would know that he was her dad.

“I didn’t know the chief had a daughter,” Karen said, glancing at her husband.

“He...didn’t know about me,” El muttered.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Karen said.

Besides that small glitch, the dinner went well. And when it was time for El to get ready to go home, she’d been invited to come over whenever she wanted to.

“It was so nice to meet you,” Mrs. Wheeler had said, giving her a hug.

“It was nice to meet you, too,” El said back, returning the hug. “Thank you for having me. And thank you for Mike.”

That had made Mrs. Wheeler blush, as she quietly said “You’re welcome. Can’t wait to have you over again sometime.”

“We’re going to go wait outside,” Mike told his mom, as it was getting close to pick-up time for El.

 

“I think we did it,” he told her once they’d stepped outside.

Taking his hand, she said, “Your mama is nice.”

Nodding, Mike said, “She can be.” Stopping, he said, “I can’t wait until, you know...the year is up. We won’t have to keep secrets anymore, and you can come over anytime you want. You could eat with us every week, if Hopper lets you!”

Waiting a moment, she asked, “Mike?”

“Yeah, El?”

“Why did you lie? You said you don’t want to lie anymore.”

Mike sighed. “Hopper, he...when he talked to me, he said that it’s the only way to keep you safe. And he’s right. As much as I don’t like lying to my mom, unless, you know, I have to, I don’t like the idea of you not being safe. That’s...that’s the thing I’m worried most about.”

Smiling, she moved closer, bringing her lips to his for a chaste kiss.

The rumble of Hopper’s Jeep broke them apart a minute later. Rolling down the window, Hopper asked, “How’d it go?”

“Good!” Mike said.

“You remembered everything?” Hopper asked Eleven.

“Yes,” she answered, nodding.

“Great. Then let’s roll, kid.”

Turning to Mike, she asked, “When can you come over again?”

“Soon, El. Promise.”

“Okay.” She smiled as they both moved closer, and pecked lips once more.

“Love you,” he whispered to her.

“Love you,” she whispered back. Squeezing his hand once more, she turned to leave.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote a long conversation where Mike told his mom *everything*-I actually really liked it, but I felt it didn't fit in the story. I might publish that as a small one-shot sometime in the (very) near future if anyone would like to read it.  
> For those that read the previous stories in this series, sorry this one took a while. I've been writing it off and on for about three months. There's one more story in this series, not sure when that one will come out...  
> Kudos are nice, comments are nice.  
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
